The Lion King 3: Kovu's Pride
by BrunoTheWolf
Summary: This story follows Kovu and Kiara's Pride as they face friendship, love, and adventure. REVIEWS AND TIPS ARE APPRECIATED! Even flamers!
1. Chapter 1: A Princess Is Born

_Hey y'all! _

_This is my first story for a continuation of The Lion King...umm...I hope you like it! _

_I am putting a lot of effort and thought into this, soo yeah! Tips, readers, and reviews are APPRECIATED! :D _

_Thanks for taking time to read this. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

TLK 3:

Kovu's Pride

The light, cream lioness roared in pain as the contractions started again.

"Shh, Kiara, calm yourself…" another, older cream lioness hushed, "Just a few more pushes…right, Rafiki?" she asked to a nearby mandrill soothing Kiara. He nodded, and began to whisper an ancient prayer.

"Ahh!" Kiara yelped as a tiny, light golden-brown bundle flopped out of her. The diminutive, newborn cub began to mew and reach for its mother.

"Shh, little one…I mean, Princess Uzuri." She smiled, and her mate, the King of the Pridelands, walked in nervously.

Rafiki laughed, "Come in, your highness. The Princess has arrived." The mandrill's thick African accent was filled with joy. The lion looked from the wise shaman to the tiny bundle that he helped create. Shyly, he walked up to it and licked it, now smiling.

"Hey, sweetie…my name's Kovu, and I'm your dad." Kovu laughed when Uzuri mewed loudly at him, and she began to suckle on her mother's milk.

Kiara suddenly eyed something in the far right corner of her cave…two, purple-mud-brown eyes twinkling at her. Kiara smiled at them, and the eyes gasped and darted out of sight. This caused the Queen to laugh once more.

"It's okay, Mlenzi, come meet your little sister!" she said, exhausted but ecstatic.

The cub, probably a couple of months of age, slowly creeped in. His mesmerizing eyes were captivated and curious with the little bundle beside his mother. Mlenzi's gossamer, dark-golden coat shivered as he came up to the end of the cave.

As the adolescent approached his new sister with caution and stuttered, "H-Hi there…welcome to the world, Uzuri. I…I'm Mlenzi." The prince lay down, and sniffed her. Uzuri mewed loudly again and stopped drinking to cuddle up in a bundle on Mlenzi's paw.

There was a soft, "Aww…" from everyone in the cave.

The prince smiled ear to ear, and said happily, "I promise to forever protect you, little one. I will fight for you, love you, train you, and take care of you when others cannot. Which means…I will, for all eternity be your _malaika__mlinzi_."

* * *

"Mlenzi! Mlenzi! Mlenzi!" a young cub was running toward a group of older adolescents, all laying down, chatting in a small circle with a younger cub batting a leaf in the middle.

"Hm? Oh, Uzuri…" the largest male said, his eyes darting to the cub. "C'mere, rascal!" he teased and put his humungous paw over her tiny head. She growled and tried to bat it off, but fell on her back in the process.

"Oof!" she squealed, but quickly got back up and lashed her tail playfully.

The other lions laughed and started chatting again.

"So, Penda, who's mane is bigger, mine or Mlenzi?" a dark brown lion with a darker spot on his cheek. His dark golden brown tufts were almost qualified as a mane, but not quite yet. Mlenzi rolled his eyes.

The Prince's mane was rare; he had a black mane with large stripes of brown running down it. Rafiki had said it was a sign of diversity from the Kings, but he didn't know if it was good or bad.

"Hm…that's a toughie. I think…" the lioness, a light golden lion with a dark stripe down her forehead said with mock-thoughtfulness.

"Indeed, comrade, indeed…" an oddly spotted, chocolate colored-lioness spoke up, playful sarcasm dripping with every word.

"I say…Mlenzi!" Penda suddenly burst as her bright green eyes observed the two males, puffing their chests out and grooming their fur to make it look bigger.

"What? No way!" the other male exclaimed.

"Sorry, man." Mlenzi apologized playfully. He puffed out his chest. "Some lions got it, and some lions don't." He stuck out his tongue. His friend rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Yeah, one day yours'll be bigger than his, Baka," Penda purred.

Baka playfully shoved Mlenzi. "You bet it will."

"Penda, why is your face so red?" Uzuri finally squeaked after playing with the other cub in the middle.

The other cub stopped playing and looked up too. She looked from Penda to Baka, and cooed, "Oooh…" she whispered to the Princess, giggling to one another.

"W-what? Oh, that… sorry, I don't feel so good. See you guys later," Penda gasped and got up quickly to run to the waterhole.

Baka stared after her, his expression blank. Mlenzi shoved him lightly with his paw.

"Dude, she likes you." He said seriously.

"What? Who? Penda? No, she couldn't. Why-Why would I like her? I don't like her." Baka shuffled his paws and laughed nervously.

Baka's twin, Furahi, rolled her eyes. "Little bro, you're so stupid." She whacked his head with her fluffy tail.

The dark brown lion growled pointedly and rolled his eyes. "I'm only younger by thirty seconds, c'mon! And I do _not_ like her. _Not._"

Both Furahi and Mlenzi rolled their eyes at him. "Okay, cous'." Mlenzi said, giving up for today.

"Well, I'm going to go with Penda to see how she's _feeling_." The young lioness winked at Baka and got up. She whistled to the tiny cub that was originally in the middle of them all. "C'mon, Cheshi, come with me... Like you could use the exercise…" she muttered.

The cub, about the princess's age, perked her ears and jumped up. Oddly, her entire coat was a shiny, gossamer white color. She had light, pink eyes that danced with curiosity. Giggling, she said, "Okay! One second!" Cheshi turned to Uzuri. "See ya later, Uzuri!" she said sadly and ran after her older adopted-sister.

Uzuri's ears lowered sadly. "Oh, okay…bye…" she said quietly, but suddenly cheered up and pounced on her brother. Mlenzi smiled and pulled her closer with his paw. The princess began to yawn and put her front paws over Mlenzi's big ones and closed her eyes sleepily. Baka laughed quietly.

"So, you actually got her to sleep?" The Queen suddenly said from behind Mlenzi. Mlenzi smiled, "Yeah. I guess Cheshi wore her out."

Kiara smiled warmly, "If only you were a lioness…you'd be a great mother!" Baka snorted in laughter, but Mlenzi scoffed.

"Mooommm…" he groaned.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," she said playfully, swatting his puffy tail. "Here, let me take her." Kiara said after admiring her two children. Mlenzi carefully slipped his paw from beneath her, and Kiara picked her up as gentle as possible. The Queen walked toward the main cave.

"So, Mlenzi…do _you_ like anyone? " Baka said, smirking.

Mlenzi rolled his eyes. "There's no one _to_ like. Furahi's my cousin, duh, and Penda's already taken."

Baka's ears perked up and his eyes widened. "What? Why? W-Who?" he exclaimed. Mlenzi raised his eyebrow.

"Um, y'know, just being curious…not like I care or anything, heh." The brown lion dismissed the subject.

"Maybe, like, a rogue will come one day? Like my mom and dad." Baka continued.

Mlenzi thought about settling down. "I think we're too young. We should enjoy life wile we can, right? Start some parties, have some fun…get into mischief." He smiled and got up.

"When I'm King, I'm going to rock Pride Rock," the Prince said mischievously.

Baka scoffed and stood up too. "But a King always needs a wingman to keep him down to Earth," he said, shoving Mlenzi. Mlenzi smiled and laughed.

"C'mon, let's go see if Penda's okay." Mlenzi ended.

The two friends walked near the lush savannah, looking for the waterhole with their friends.

_

* * *

_

Meanwhile,

"_No! Stop it! Aaahhhh!" I screamed as the vicious lion swiped at me again. _

_I kept backing up, put he hit me every time. My heart pounded in my ears. _

"_M-Mommy! Daddy! MLENZI!" I screamed as the lion picked me up, laughing evilly. _

"_Hush, child, if you are to be welcome here." He said, his voice dripping with intensity. _

_We were in a large, dark canyon. Holes in the ground blew on sweltering steam that would start a fire easily. I could hear demonic laughing and vicious roars all around me._

"_W-what do you want with me?" I cried, hot tears pouring down my face. The lion laughed his evil laugh again._

"_You will see…once you start your training." The lion said. I finally got a chance to look ay him. His thick, black mane was stained with…blood? He smelled like death, or at least smelled really bad. His teeth dug into my back with every step. But his most interesting feature was not his lankiness or his evil voice…_

_But he had a scar over his left eye._

"Ahh! No, no! Get off me!" a cub screamed, swatting at the lion.

"Ow, ow Uzuri! Stop! _Uzuri!_" Kovu yelled as his daughter spazzed and swiped his eyes and nose.

Uzuri opened her eyes, breathing heavily, her heart in her throat.

"D-daddy? Daddy!" she whimpered and ran into him, crying.

"Shh, Uzuri, it was just a bad dream. You're safe now." He put a paw over his daughter protectively and shh'ed her. She wouldn't stop trembling.

"N-no! Daddy, t-there was a lion in my dream…" she hiccupped between sobs.

"Shh, it's okay…we will talk about it tomorrow. You need to go back to sleep. It's okay, he won't come again." Kovu whispered, laying back down.

"B-but what if he comes back?" the terrified princess cried, sniffling.

"Then tell him if he messes with the Princess of the Pridelands, your ol' dad will beat the fur outta him." He smiled and pulled her closer, hearing her breath slow down into peaceful, rhythmic patterns.

"Okay…goodnight…" she whispered, already falling asleep. Uzuri curled into her father's mane, and sighed with content.

The Princess slept soundly, and had another dream…but she was only chasing a butterfly, thankfully.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Friend

Not much to say about this chapter… only Mlenzi makes a new friend and stuff.

Sorry, not much Uzuri in this chapter. :P There will be next chapter, though! :D

I'm trying to go, like, Both, Mlenzi, Uzuri, Both, Mlenzi, Uzuri, etc.

Anway...

Enjoy! 3

* * *

"Mlenzi! C'mon, Mlenzi! Get up, lazy butt!" the young lion heard as he groggily fluttered his eyes open.

"Wha'?" Mlenzi groaned as his smaller, but steadily growing sister jumped on his back and the young Prince covered his eyes with his paws. "Nooo…" he rolled over.

"Oof!" Uzuri yelped as she fell off her brother's back. She growled and raised her haunches determinedly. "The hunter… will attack her prey in three, two…_one_!" Uzuri yelled the last part as she jumped back on Mlenzi's lean body.

He sighed. "Fine, fine…" he yawned and got up to stretch. Uzuri squealed happily. The two walked out of the Pride's den and into the pink sunlight. Two or three other lion were scattered here and there, for some reason, awake also. A large figure could be seen somewhere in the distance. Mlenzi squinted his eyes.

"Hey, look Uzuri, there's Dad." He pointed his paw in the direction of their father, on his daily patrol.

But the young cub had already wandered off to find her friend. Mlenzi looked around a bit until he found Cheshi and her playing by two lionesses. One of them smiled, as if to say, _I will watch them. Go have fun. _He nodded and trotted towards the waterhole.

* * *

All the way there, he thought he heard swishing in the grass. Eventually, half way there, he became paranoid. "Okay, who's there?" he yelled around him, his voice echoing off the trees around him.

_Swish_. He heard it again, except now he actually saw the long grass move. He got into a stalking position and waited patiently.

_Swish._ Suddenly, Mlenzi pounced from where the movement and sound was coming from.

"Ack! Get _off_ me, ugh, stupid lion!" the creature yelped as Mlenzi pinned it down. After a moment, the prince realized it was a male cheetah, about his age. He growled warningly.

"Why are you following me?" he demanded, pushing his paws further into the stalker's shoulders.

The cheetah lowered its eyes. "Why are _you_ following _me_, that is the real question." He said simply.

Mlenzi growled slightly and got off of him. "So you're going to the waterhole?" he said carefully.

"Yep," the lean cheetah said as he licked himself clean. After a few seconds, he sat down.

"So…what's your name, then?" Mlenzi asked, thinking he came on too strong.

"My name is Kasi. And yours?" he asked, a slightly friendly tone now entering his voice.

Mlenzi furrowed his brow, surprised Kasi didn't know Kovu's son's name. "Um, Mlenzi." He answered.

Kasi widened his eyes slightly. "Oh! The young lion Prince?" he asked.

Mlenzi sighed. This always happened when he tried to make non-lion friends. They were always like, "Oh, the young prince! What an honor!" or "Oh, my, the prince! I am blessed to have your acquaintance!" Yadda yadda yadda.

"Yes, the Prince." He said, disappointed. But Kasi smiled and said,

"Cool. Want to come the rest of the way with me?" He asked friendly-like.

Mlenzi looked up, surprised again.

"Sure." He smiled, and tried to continue the conversation. They got up and started walking, side by side. "So, where do you live? I don't think I've seen where the coalitions live."

Kasi laughed. "Not many animals do. It's kind of hidden…I'll explain later." He simply said. After a moment of thought, he asked, "How is Pride Rock? Is it nice?"

Mlenzi laughed, 'It's okay. I don't get special treatment or anything, I'm just… another lion in the Pride. But my father keeps us organized and happy. What about the coalition? Do you like it?" he asked, curiosity growing inside of him.

"Eh…it's…okay. We don't always eat, and sometimes we have to share dens, but we get along pretty well. Our leader's very wise and friendly." Mlenzi nodded, soaking up all the new information.

After talking a few more minutes, they reached the waterhole. No one else was there. The two quickly bent down and slurped up water, not realizing how thirsty they both were.

After a few minutes of drinking, Mlenzi ay down lazily. "Ahh," he sighed. Kasi came up a few seconds after and lay on his back beside Mlenzi. They talked for what seemed like seconds.

After laughing over a funny joke Kasi made, Mlenzi looked at the sky. The sun was already high up. "Whoa, it's already noon! Aw man, my family's gonna be worried…sorry, I gotta go, Kasi!"

"Oh, um, okay." Kasi's said. His ears lowered a bit. Mlenzi thought a moment.

"Hey, I'll meet you here again tomorrow, same time as now, right?" he smiled. Kasi's ears rose back up.

"Uh, yeah…yeah, that'd be good." The cheetah said confidently.

"'Kay, bye, Kasi!" Mlenzi turned around and began trotting, his tail flicking in a goodbye wave. Kasi got up and began to jog the other direction, toward his home,

"Later!" he yelled back.

* * *

Mlenzi later broke into a swift run. Soon, he came back to Pride Rock. Kiara and the other lionesses were all in a group.

"Okay, you've checked the savannah?" she asked one demandingly. The lioness nodded sadly.

"You, you've checked all the dens?" The Queen asked another quickly. "Yes, ma'um."

Kiara sighed, and looked around, then suddenly saw Mlenzi running up to them.

"Oh, Mlenzi!" She ran up to him and nuzzled him. "I was so worried! A-are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked, and ferociously licked his stray fur down.

"Mooomm…I'm fine. I just met a new friend, that's all." Mlenzi said pointedly, swatting her off.

Kiara huffed. "And you just _chatted_ for _six hours_? You better be glad you didn't get _hurt_, mister!"

Mlenzi's ears lowered. "Sorry, we lost track of time." Kiara stared at him coldly, but then her eyes softened up. She sighed, and said, "I'm sorry. I just worry about you, Mlenzi. You're growing up too fast." She nuzzled him once more, then walked off. The group began to disassemble into smaller groups of chatty lionesses.

Mlenzi sighed and walked to the den. _Why should they worry about me so much? I can take care of myself…when I'm King, I'll roam wherever I want to, whenever I want to._ He thought happily.

Mlenzi couldn't wait to be King. The young Prince was happy that he had his life planned out for him, so there were no devastating mishaps along the way.

_Yep, everything's going to be perfect…_he thought and began to yawn.

Mlenzi carefully looked around to make sure Uzuri wasn't around, and closed his eyes as he quickly fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3: The River

Hey y'all :D

So um…yeah. This chapter's about Uzuri. Just mischief and kid-ness.

But this chapter will _certainly _be interesting. :D

Oh, and by the way, I don't think I'm going to put Timon and Pumbaa in this story. D:

I know I'm sorry! But I can't do it. I'm the kind of person who can't be funny on the spot; I have to have a conversation about something. xD

* * *

"Grr…you can't catch me, Cheshi!" the young Princess squealed as she and her friend were running around in the tall grasses. One of the younger lionesses was watching the two from a slight distance.

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" the creamy white cub yelled back and pushed her long legs to go faster. Members of the Pride often joked with Cheshi, saying she was so fast her mother was probably a cheetah. But they knew it wasn't true.

A few months ago, around the time the Princess was born, one of the older lionesses, Doma, went hunting with the rest of the Pride. But she quickly grew tired, for she had not eaten that morning.

Kiara allowed her to rest for a while by the waterhole, and the lionesses would be back later to check on her.

So Doma rested for a while. But on her way to the waterhole close by, she kept hearing a _swish_ing sound, and deep breaths. But it wasn't like an adult lion's breath, no, it was more tiny and fragile. She heard twigs snapping and mewing and knew it was a cub.

Suddenly, the spotted lioness saw a blur of white fur pass right underneath her legs. Doma was confused, and whirled around to see a tiny, white cub crouched down, its meek, terrified eyes gazing up at her with fear.

She smiled and said, "It's okay, sweetie. I won't hurt you," and carefully walked closer to the cub. The cub, eyes wide, backed away.

"Hmm…where's your mother?" Doma said, and looked around. No lions in sight. The tiny cub, probably unable to speak yet, suddenly eased her haunches and walked slowly, but closer to the odd lioness.

Doma laughed and picked up the cub. "I better show you to Kovu," she said, and walked carefully back to Pride Rock, the tiny bundle in her mouth getting sleepy.

And the rest was history. They named her Cheshi, and arranged for Doma to be her adopted mother. The Princess and Cheshi soon hit it off when they could talk.

And now, Cheshi was gaining on Uzuri. But Uzuri had a plan. She blew a raspberry back at Cheshi, and forced her legs to move faster.

But Cheshi's legs were longer, and she was just a tail-tip away from her friend…and suddenly, Uzuri quickly climbed a tall rock, and waited for Cheshi to climb, too. "C'mon, Cheshi! Hurry up!" she teased. There was a shallow river below her, it's current slowly but gradually getting swifter.

Finally, Cheshi was at the top of the rock, panting. She touched Uzuri with her paw, and fell down, exhausted. "You're…it…" she breathed in between pants. After a moment, Cheshi got up and went to the edge of the flat rock with her friend.

"Whoa," she gasped. The river was deep, but it ran for what looked like miles. Fish were spotted here and there, and some animals – cheetahs, wildebeests, and birds – were seen farther along. Cheshi looked at Uzuri.

"Surely your Dad knows about this river, right?" she asked. Uzuri shook her head, her green eyes glued to the river in a mystical trance. The white cub laughed and waved a paw in front of the Princess's face.

"Hellooo? Earth to Uzuri, you there?" Uzuri blinked and stepped back a bit. She cleared her throat.

"Oh, um, sorry. Just thinking." She said, and smiled mischievously.

"Hey, Cheshi, I just got a great idea…" Uzuri laughed. Cheshi cocked her head. But Uzuri just laughed again and motioned for her to follow her.

They carefully crawled back down the huge rock, and to a shady tree nearby. The Princess pointed a paw to the dying bark, now falling off into pieces larger than the two cubs combined.

"If we get, like, two of these we could ride down the river in our own little boats! Wouldn't that be fun? And we wouldn't have to tell anyone about this place, it could be _our_ river! What do you think?" Uzuri said excitedly, jumping up and down.

Cheshi looked hesitant, but thought about how fun it sounded, and happily said, "Alright, let's do it! I'll help you get off two big pieces!"

The two began shredding outlines in the bark, making pieces that would hold them up just right. But this process took a long time, because they had to dig in the claws to make sure the raft would be thick.

After about twenty minutes, they had two big chunks of bark lying before them. The two were smiling ear to ear, proud of the hard work. There was only one problem…

"How are we going to actually get in the river? There are sharp rocks blocking it, along both sides. And the next break in them is over a mile away." Cheshi said, confused. Uzuri rolled her eyes.

"Why, we jump off the tall rock, duh!"

* * *

Cheshi gulped loudly and looked down at the river, now making a large roaring noise. The poor cub was wobbling in her little raft. Uzuri looked at Cheshi, knowing she was worried.

"Hey, it's okay. It'll be fun. Just interlace our tails so we stay together, okay?" She looked behind her to see her tail wind around Cheshi's, like a knot. Cheshi did the same thing and nodded.

"O-okay…lets get the jump over with." She said, closing her eyes. Uzuri laughed, and counted down.

"Okay…three…two…" she paused for dramatic effect. Cheshi opened her eyes, curious.

"_ONE!_" Uzuri yelled at the top of her lungs, and jumped. The two cubs screamed all the way down.

When they finally hit the water, it whisked them away like two cheetahs were on their reigns. They stopped screaming and calmed down to look around. They were going _really _fast.

But after a few seconds, Cheshi raised her front paws in the air and laughed. Uzuri smiled and copied her friend. There were a lot of bumpy cataracts, but that was even more fun.

"Woo-hoo!" Uzuri cried; her voice somehow audible over the roaring river. In the far distance, Pride Rock towered above them. Cheshi opened her eyes, and looked at the great Rock.

"Hey, Uzuri! When we get close enough the pride rock, we should jump off! I don't wanna get lost along the river!" the white cub yelled at the top of her lungs.

Uzuri barely heard her, but she already knew what they were going to do. She had to squint to see it, but there was a long, thick root from a nearby tree sticking out in the middle of the river, right beside the back of Pride Rock. She pointed to it while she had Cheshi's attention, and Cheshi nodded.

The two cubs were approaching the root fast, so they unsheathed their tiny, but sharp claws, and got ready to latch on.

Suddenly, there it was, the root, and Cheshi was on the left side of the river. The white cub was getting ready to run straight into it, and got ready.

The Princess, however, was on the right side of the river, farthest away from the root. She could only reach the end of it, but that was enough to support her body.

Cheshi latched on quickly, and the root stopped her dead in her tracks. She climbed up onto the root, and quickly grabbed her little raft, and tossed it onto dry land. The white cub sat there, panting, and lay down, letting her four paws hang down. She looked up, and expected to see Uzuri.

But Uzuri wasn't there. Cheshi's pink pupils grew smaller with fear, and her eyes widened. "Uzuri? Uzuri?_ Uzuri?" _She screamed, hot tears now welling up in her eyes. She yelled her best friend's name until her voice went hoarse, but she got no response.

The white cub began to softly sob, and just lay there, alone in the darkening day.

* * *

The lioness, Sukari, was very, very oblivious. The only reason Kiara chose her to watch over the cubs was because the poor lioness couldn't hunt. She got too distracted. The golden, creamy-colored lioness was not much older than Mlenzi.

Anyway, Sukari had been playing with a piece of grass, not watching the cubs. Mostly, the foolish lioness daydreamed about Baka, Mlenzi's friend. Sure, he was a little younger than her, but he was cute.

But when it started to get dark, she looked up, expecting to see the two cubs. But they were gone. Sukari gasped, her blue eyes widening. She quickly got up and called out, "Princess Uzuri? Cheshi, are you there? Where are you two?" to the silent savannah.

"Oh, man…those cubs are all alone, and it's my fault!" she cried, and then she gasped, and said to herself, "Oh no! Even worse, what will _Kiara _and _Doma _do to me? Eep!" She squealed and ran straight back to Pride Rock, thinking of excuses along the way.


	4. Chapter 4: Exodus In the River

Hey y'all! :D

Me again~ there's a snow storm here in the south, so I have tons of time on my hands.

But when my break's over, don't expect updates every single day.

Sorry! D: But I usually don't have this much time AT. ALL.

Anyway, without further ado~

Chapter 4!

***EDIT*** Oh my gosh…I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while! This was typed when I had that big snowstorm hit my city…

I hope you readers are still going to wanna read my stories, 3

* * *

Mlenzi was meeting up with Kasi at the time of the river accident. The two were becoming closer every day now, and today, Mlenzi invited Kasi to come see Pride Rock.

Kasi looked flustered, and asked, "What? Your father will actually allow me to come?" Mlenzi laughed and said,

"Sure, why not? We're allies with your coalition, so he shouldn't mind. They already know I have you as a friend." But Kasi still looked nervous.

"Well…alright." He said, trying to get a hold of his nerves. _Oh Kings, what am I going to say to the King and Queen? _The cheetah thought.

Mlenzi cocked his head and asked, "What's wrong? ...You don't have to come if you don't want to." He really wanted his friend to come, but if he didn't wanna go, the Prince wouldn't make him.

Kasi's eyes widened, "No, no, no, it's fine. I'm just nervous to meet…y'know, the King and stuff. I'll get over it… C'mon!" He jumped up, ready to go to Pride Rock now.

Mlenzi and Kasi had surprisingly grown a lot over the past few weeks; Mlenzi's full mane was coming in, and Kasi's legs were getting longer and sturdier.

The Prince laughed, and got up on his paws, too. "Whatever, Kasi." He lead the way, but it was only a very short walk.

When the pair got there, the lionesses were in their usual chatty mood. One gasped and poked her friend, and pointed as Kasi and Mlenzi. The other lioness widened her eyes in curiosity.

As they walked by, Kasi heard one of the lighter-colored lionesses say, "Ooh…isn't he cute?"

Mlenzi snorted and Kasi shoved him. "Shut up," was all the cheetah said, but he was actually very flattered.

Kovu was sitting next to Simba; the old king mostly slept, but he loved talking when he was awake. Sure, he was a bit overprotective of his relatives, but a great lion all around.

"Hey, Dad, Hey Grandpa." Mlenzi greeted, "This is my friend Kasi. I just wanted to show him Pride Rock a bit, is that okay?"

Kovu smiled at the cheetah, who was obviously nervous. "Sure, that's fine with me. Kasi, is it?"" the King asked.

Kasi replied, "Yes. I'm from Akili's coalition. H-he's my father." The cheetah then remembered to bow to the two Kings.

Simba laughed, "That's not necessary. You are a guest in our Pride," Kasi blinked and nodded, surprised. He got back up and smiled.

Mlenzi nudged his friend. 'C'mon, I'll show you my friends." He continued, and they walked off, looking for Mlenzi's usual gang.

Finally, Mlenzi spotted them near the edge of Pride Rock. They were talking to one of the lionesses. Mlenzi wasn't good with their names.

Kasi saw that they all looked distressed, especially the older lioness of the group.

"Y'know what's wrong, Mlenzi?" he asked, but Mlenzi shook his head no. The Prince walked up to them, curious.

"Hey, guys…what's wrong?" Kasi followed a bit behind him, also curious.

Mlenzi's eyes widened when he saw tears lines on Furahi's face. Furahi was _never_ sad. Like, _never_.

Baka lowered his head sadly. So did Penda. The older lioness, Sukari, had her paws over her head. Then Mlenzi remembered…Sukari was watching the cubs earlier today. The Prince looked around…no Uzuri or Cheshi.

So much emotion swelled inside him, all he could do was roar, "I-I…_Where's Uzuri?_" Sukari sniffled.

Mlenzi roared_ extremely _loud this time. "Don't make me repeat myself! Where is she, Sukari?" His voice was filled with anger…but yet, you could hear sadness backing it up.

Kasi's eyes widened, Mlenzi had never acted this way. Did that mean the Princess was missing?

Sukari shuddered and backed up slightly when she saw the look on Mlenzi's face. "I-I don't know…I wasn't-"she started.

"You _weren't_ thinking or understanding that watching those cubs – no, my _family_ – could mean life or _death_ for them! They can't do _anything _on their own!" he roared and continued, "Now I don't know about all of you, but me and Kasi are going to go look for them." His voice was snappy and enraged.

Kasi lowered his ears. He would love to help the Royal Family, and even find lost cubs, but Mlenzi was too angry to think sense. "Mlenzi, stop. We need to alert your father of this." He said quietly as the Prince began to storm off.

Mlenzi whipped back around, "But it might be too late! Th-they…they could be dead by now…" his voice dropped to a pitiful, sad tone.

Baka walked up beside his friend. "It's okay, we'll find them. But we can't go barging off on our own right now. There are other lions faster and stronger than us; they need to go…okay?" He soothed Mlenzi, whose head was now lowered.

Mlenzi only nodded, and lifted his head sadly. The group began to slowly walk towards Pride Rock, but suddenly, they all heard a yell in the distance. Furahi looked back and squinted. "Hey, who's that…" she asked.

Mlenzi and the others looked back, too. But they would have never expected what they saw.

* * *

Sorry, I know it's short but I have to try and finish one of my other stories soo…yeah. Thanks for reading! I love you all soo much. **333**


	5. Chapter 4 ::2:: The Jengas

With a loud, skin-tingling cackle, almost as if a howl/snort, the small group of odd creatures trotted closer to the crowd.

The animals didn't look like they were from around the Pridelands. They had large, furry round ears and a long, black snouts.

Their dark, beady eyes seemed to stare right into your soul. The creatures looked as if they were painted; mixtures of white, black, and orange were splattered onto their fur.

Their legs were long and nimble, with claws and teeth almost as big as a lions. The painted dogs were probably almost as big as Mlenzi, and they had fluffy, striped tails.

"Awww...why so sad, kitties? Throwing a wittle tantwum because you didn't get your way?" The largest one, and the apparent leader, laughed devilishly at them.

Mlenzi growled, and shot back, "Who are you? Why are you here? ...And, what are you guys?" The others were a little afraid and began to inch towards Pride Rock. He flicked his tail for them to get going. They began to run.

The group cackled demonically again, and the one on the left who appeared to be female managed to stop laughing and say, "You haven't heard of us, the great Walijenga Kwa Damu...or the Jengas? Hah, what am I saying? Of course you have!"  
Mlenzi slightly raised his haunches irritatingly, and his claws dug up some soil.

"No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Now answer my question!" he growled again, getting annoyed.

The dogs stopped laughing after a few seconds, and the leader scoffed. "Don't think you're so big and bad, kitty-cat, 'cause I think we have something special of yours..." He had a certain look in his black, scary eyes that Mlenzi immediately knew what he meant. The Prince gasped, and roared at them,

"Uzuri! What have you done with her?" he took a few steps forward out of anger. This also caused the Jengas to laugh some more, one of them now rolling on its stomach.

Mlenzi roared again, "_Answer me, you imbeciles_!" But this time much more loudly. The Jengas stopped laughing immediately, and the leader got a mischievous look in eye and barked,

"Oh is that what you want?" Suddenly, the one on the right's eyes widened.

He began to stutter, "Uh...K-Kitendo? The lions are coming...A lot of them. W-we gotta scram!" The leader, Kitendo, looked behind Mlenzi also. His eyes widened and he whispered, "Whoa..."

"C'mon, guys! Let's go before they find out that...well, never mind!" he barked, and laughed extra evilly at the end. They began to run away, quicker than Mlenzi thought they could.

By the time the dogs had fled completely out of sight, the entire Pride had come. Kovu was breathing deeply, "I just got the news...but w-where...?" he began to ask, but Mlenzi shook his head.

"No, Dad...they have her. Those stupid dogs have Uzuri. I just know it," he informed him, "Where's mom?"

Kovu sighed, "Sleeping. I didn't want to worry her." Mlenzi managed a pitiful smile. But Kovu's gaze turned deathly serious, and he turned around to address the pride.

"Attention, please! I admit that Uzuri and Cheshi are lost, somewhere in the middle of nowhere..." he yelled, and the Pride gasped. But he continued confidently,

"But! We think we know who took her. If we could only figure out where they are located, I know we could take them back easily..." With that, he signaled for the Pride to go back to their dens, and the Search would continue tomorrow a dawn.

* * *

By the time the sky had turned black, and everything glistened off the full moon high in the sky, almost all the animals in the Pridelands were in deep slumber, preparing for tomorrow morning's search.

But Mlenzi was restless, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He kept picturing horrific visions of what the Jengas and their possible accomplices were doing to his baby sister...

Finally, the Prince gave up and opened his eyes. After a moment of thought, he decided to leave and look for her himself.

"_I _am her guardian, _I_ need to protect her, and I always will. No matter what, _'malaika mlenzi'_..." he whispered silently to himself, as he got up to look at the full moon. Right before he set one paw out of the den, Mlenzi heard another lion stirring around, waking. He widened his eyes and crouched down, pretending to be asleep.

His cousin's, Baka's, head popped up out of the sea of sleeping lionesses. The chocolate lion shook his mane and yawned widely, and suddenly eyed Mlenzi with a laugh.

"Mlenzi, we both know you suck at pretending to be asleep." He whispered, getting up silently to sit beside his closest friend. Mlenzi couldn't help but laugh a little, and opened his eyes to sit up.

"What are you doing awake, Baka? You need your rest for the search tomorrow..." he whispered as quietly as possible. Baka raised his eyebrows, and said, "That's what I should be asking you."

Mlenzi chuckled again, but then his face turned incredibly serious. "Baka, I need to go find the cubs." He said after a long, pressured pause.

Mlenzi prepared himself for what Baka would say, probably to stay, or maybe he would freak out and attack him...but, all he did was say, "I thought you'd say that. I understand, go on. I'll act like I didn't know where you were going, mate. Go find our sisters. I am completely with you." and smiled confidently.

Mlenzi was in shock, he didn't know what to say. "Baka, I -"

"You need to get going. Come on, move that lazy butt and go! You're wasting time!" he growled and shoved Mlenzi farther away, into the bright moonlight. Mlenzi sighed, and looked at his cousin with gratitude. "Thank you."

And without another word, he began to sprint out of Pride Rock at top speed, not looking behind him, no matter what. He couldn't look back, because if he did, he knew he would end up turning back.

And that _wasn't_ going to happen.


	6. Chapter 5: A Plan and a Rejoice

Hello again, C:

Yet anoher chapter of my TLK3 series... hope you like it, :D

I'm actually thinking of changing the name of this story to: "The Lion King 3: ..."

I just don't know what to call it. :) So, leave a review on what YOU think it should be called, or if I should keep the current name after you've read this chap.

Oh, and sorry about the last chapter. I was short on time, and too lazy to come part 1 and 2. :P

Anyway, without further ado, chapter 5! :D

* * *

"Yo, Kitendo, what was the little Prince talking about earlier?" one of the Jengas, Ona, asked the leader as they traveled across a sandy desert, the sun high in the sky.

The dogs were quite far from the Pridelands by now, and high mountains and hills decorated the land all the way to the horizon.

Kitendo, the largest of them all, laughed menacingly, "Oh, yeah. He was talking about his bratty little sister…turns out she's missing," he said.

Angalia, the smaller female, snickered too. "And he thinks we took her? What a retard." But Kitendo didn't laugh, and only looked at her oddly.

She stopped laughing, and grew suspicious. "Oh no, Ki, you've got that look in your eye…" she said pointedly. Kitendo only quietly chuckled and said,

"What look?" but the other two only rolled their eyes.

"The look you get when you get a plan, but it never works, so Uawa kicks the fur outta us, then he banishes us for a while, then you get another plan, then—" Ona was cut off.

"Okay! Okay, we get it! I mess up sometimes, we all do, Kings," he growled loudly to shut up Ona. He cleared his throat as the smaller male yelped, and continued, "But this time, it's going to work. We just have to find the little kitty, hold her hostage, and ask for the lions' cooperation..."

"But what if she's dead? Or they already found her?" Angalia inquired, more of a pessimist, unlike Kitendo. The leader stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around to face her, snout to snout, their eyes only a whisker away.

"Then we won't let that happen, _will we_?" he hissed, every word filled with menace.

But Angalia only bravely lowered her eyes and snorted, bumping him in the shoulder before walking forward. Just to bug him, she whipped her little tail right in his face.

Usually, Kitendo didn't let this slide, but he just gave up, and got in front of her. "Whatever, we're still going through with my plan." With that, all three of them bent their necks down to the ground, and began sniffing for Uzuri…

Dead or alive, they didn't care.

* * *

"Oh, look! He's waking up! Shh, shh, give the little guy some space…" a voice whispered, obviously excited.

The cub opened her eyes, and saw that there were many gazelles surrounding her, all of their eyes wide with curiosity. She blinked, and they all neighed nervously and backed away.

She sat up, but she felt queasy and fell back down on her stomach. Some of the creatures giggled and one of them, the youngest of them all, clumsily trotted up to her.

Its mother, a larger female gasped and yelled, "No, Zuzu! Stay back, he might eat you!" but the tiny calf only giggled again and turned around to his mother, "It's okay! He's just a baby, he won't hurt me, mother."

The cub's eyes widened as the calf got closer, and stuck its snout right into her muzzle curiously. She fell on her back, appalled. This made the calf giggle some more. "See? He's harmless, mother!"

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the cub began to speak, "I…I'm not a he…I am a girl." Her voice was shaky, as if it took everything in her just to say one word. The herd gasped nervously.

The calf, Zuzu, however laughed and pushed her up off her back with his dull, stubby horns. "Oh, we thought you were a boy! Your fur is really long and dark, usually females are much lighter!" he smiled widely, and shoved his snout towards her face again, curious. "What's your name? Where are you from? Why won't you talk? What—"

"Zuzu!" his mother snapped, and he widened his eyes and timidly turned his head to her. "That is enough. She just woke up, don't bash her with questions."

The calf's ears lowered and he goofily ran back to his mother, standing obediently behind her front leg.

Then, a much larger gazelle entered the circle. The entire herd bowed respectively and he nodded in appreciation. The large stag had a dark, reddish brown coat, unlike the other cream-golden colored female. He had long, curved horns that would scare any beast away.

But there was something different about him… he wasn't as thin and nimble like other gazelle; he had an unusual yet flattering stocky, muscular build.

"What is going on here? I heard…" Suddenly, he spotted the cub. "Oh. Oh my. Woga, who is this?" The mother of Zuzu spoke up, "She's a cub we found by the river. She was about to die, and we couldn't just leave her there. But she just woke up, sir."

The male hmm'd with curiosity. He walked up to the cub, whose eyes were the size of saucers now. The male laughed with a deep, rumbling voice like thunder. He bent his long neck down to the cub's level.

"What is your name, young one?" he said patiently. The kitten brunched her eyebrows together in concentration, obviously thinking hard. After a while, she said loudly, "I honestly can't remember...all I can think of is rushing water and someone screaming a name… um, sir."

The buck raised his head, and chuckled another deep, manly laugh to match his voice. "Please," he insisted politely, "call me Shujaa. I am the leader of this herd."

The cub sighed and relief and cleared her throat. "_Shujaa_." She added.

Shujaa looked thoughtful for a minute, observing the cub closely. "Hmm…you look quite familiar, little one. I just… can't put my hoof on it. Anyone else?" he said after a moment, looking around at the other females.

The other gazelles cocked their heads. One of them, closest to the cub gasped, "Oh, _yes_! I've been thinking the exact thing, sir. _Very_ familiar, yes indeed." She seemed to be very jumpy, and her voice was higher than the others'.

Shujaa looked at her a bit oddly as she cocked her head innocently and batted her big eyes at him. The cub noticed how angry Zuzu's mother, Woga, looked and the mother rolled her eyes. But she shook it off and looked back at Shujaa, who was now observing the confused cub again.

"Maybe… you're from the Pridelands? Does Kovu, Kiara, Mlenzi, or Uzuri ring a bell to you?" he rumbled, suddenly realizing she might be a Pride Lander.

The cub gasped, and her eyes widened. "That's it! Yes, I know three of those people…" Her memory came rushing back into her, like a strong current in a river. She gasped again and got to her feet. _Like a river…oh my Kings! I know what happened!_

"Oh, no, Shujaa! No, I'm Uzuri!" she confessed, and the gazelles gasped with more emotion than before. Shujaa nodded slowly. "Ah, that's why you looked familiar. But your coat…ah! The river and mud must've just gotten you dirty. Well, let's get you home. Woga, Finya, and Mzee, please escort Princess Uzuri home." He ordered to his herd.

Finya was the gazelle Woga was shooting daggers at earlier, and Mzee was a very old-looking female, but also had a sense of willpower and wisdom swirling around her like smoke. This intimidated Uzuri, and she lowered her ears. Mzee only lowered her eyes warningly and moved forward.

As Uzuri followed Finya and Mzee, she looked back for Woga. She caught Woga and Shujaa nuzzling each other shortly before she departed. Zuzu stayed with Shujaa. Then Uzuri smiled, and realized Shujaa looked just like Zuzu.

Woga pushed the Princess's tush with her forward gently. "Come along, Princess, your Pride must be worried sick about you." Uzuri giggled and ran forward.

Woga followed respectively in the back, with Finya and Mzee guarding the front, heads together, whispering.

Silently, Uzuri got closer and eavesdropped; her curiosity couldn't take it anymore.

"…why we have to take the brat home, those lions will probably devour us, Mzee!" she heard Finya whisper-yell.

Mzee scoffed and whispered back, "I know, Finya, but she was stupid enough to fall into a river…so we have to."

Uzuri didn't want to hear them insult her anymore, and she lowered her ears sadly. Woga walked faster, and began to trot beside her. They were halfway there.

"Are you okay, Princess? You look a little sad." She asked, actually seeming to care about the cub, unlike the others.

Uzuri sighed and looked at the slowly passing ground. "No, not really…" a memory crossed her mind, and she looked up at Woga. "Um, d-did you see another cub by the river? Near me?"

The thin female sighed sadly. "No, I'm sorry. I only found you…but you were very, very, very far away from your home. I'm surprised you're alive; you were so cold when we found you…we thought you were dead." Woga confessed, and Uzuri sighed again, "Oh. Okay…"

Then, before she knew it, they were nearing home, at Pride Rock.

Uzuri gulped and prepared herself for what was about to happen.

_I wonder what they think happened…and what about Cheshi? _she thought as tilted her head all the way up, gazing at a distant lion standing at the edge of the Rock, who suddenly jumped with surprise and ran down, other lions following him.

Uzuri sighed and braced herself.


End file.
